(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - December 24, 2010: A member of the elite al-Quds force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard has been captured in southern Afghanistan accused of cross-border weapons smuggling, international forces said Friday.

The man, described as a "key Taliban weapons facilitator", was captured Saturday in Zhari district, Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, a volatile district targeted in recent coalition offensives.

He was targeted "for facilitating the movement of weapons between Iran and Kandahar through Nimroz province," a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

It is thought he was connected to smuggling small arms between the countries.

"The now-detained man was considered a Kandahar-based weapons facilitator with direct ties to other Taliban leaders in the province," the ISAF spokesman added in a statement.

The news again spotlights the complex relationship between Afghanistan, Iran and the United States, whose troops make up roughly two-thirds of the coalition force.

Kabul has insisted that Iran, as a neighbouring country, has a legitimate concern in helping the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan.

But some in Iran's arch foe the US are concerned that Tehran could be funding insurgents or trying to play on anti-Western sentiment in Karzai's government.

British newspaper The Times reported Friday that Iran has released a string of senior Al-Qaeda militants from custody so they can help the network rebuild in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas.

The newspaper quoted anonymous Pakistani and Middle Eastern officials accusing Iran of giving covert support to the Islamist militants, often through the Revolutionary Guards.

Earlier this year, it emerged that President Hamid Karzai's government was receiving bags of cash from Iran, prompting the US to voice concern about its potential "negative influence."

Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks released leaked US military intelligence documents earlier this year suggesting Iran was waging a covert campaign against coalition forces by providing money, arms and a safe haven to Taliban insurgents.

Afghanistan's deputy commerce minister Mohammad Sharif Sharifi said this week that Iran was preventing 1,600 fuel tankers from crossing into Afghanistan because Tehran believed they would supply foreign troops.

Southern Afghanistan -- particularly the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, where the Iranian was captured -- is seen as the Taliban's home turf and is at the heart of the war in Afghanistan between international forces and the Islamist militants.

Six NATO soldiers and two Afghan troops died in a car bombing earlier this month in Zhari district.

The United States last year said it was sending 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, raising its numbers there to 90,000 and the overall international presence to 140,000.

It is likely to start a limited withdrawal of troops from July 2011, with Afghan troops and police due to take over responsibility for their country's security in 2014.

The Right Honourable Philip Hammond, U.K. Secretary of State for Defence, and Mr. Frank Kendall, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, represented their governments.“We are here to celebrate an important ‘first’ among so many milestones associated with the F-35 program,” said Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin chairman and chief executive officer. “It’s fitting that our first delivery to an international partner is to the United Kingdom, because without sustained British innovation over many generations, we would not have an event to celebrate today.”The U.K. was the first of eight international partners to join the F-35 program and plans to acquire the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Headquartered in the U.K., BAE Systems brings a rich heritage of capabilities to the F-35 program, including short takeoff and vertical landing experience, advanced lean manufacturing, flight testing and air systems sustainment, and is responsible for the F-35’s aft fuselage, fuel system, crew escape and life support systems. The U.K. will play a vital role in the F-35’s global production, follow-on development and sustainment over the next 40 years, bringing strong economic benefits to the country.The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th Generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three distinct variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV8-B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least 10 other countries.Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.*F-35B Related Images;